Page 17 of A Balm of Healing
“Yes. The answer is always yes.”
Hope alighted in his chest, followed by amusement from her referencing his colder attitude toward her when they’d first met.
But then it was as if someone dumped a bucket of ice water over his head as he noticed the black carriage in front of Nyana’s home, the side painted with the royal Sun Fae emblem—a twelve-pointed sun star.
Emeric swore and turned his chair around. He paused momentarily to grab Gweneth’s hand and tugged her after him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. “Who is that?”
“Maisy’s father. I don’t think now is a great time—”
“Grandpapa!”
The front door of his daughter’s house burst open, and moments later, auburn hair flew wildly behind his six-year-old granddaughter as she sprinted across the yard and jumped onto his lap, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
“I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting until I got to see you again,” Maisy said, her big blue eyes wide with excitement. “Mama said we could go to your house later today with Papa Calle, but you came to see us instead!”
“Papa Calle?” Gweneth breathed, her eyes wide now, too. “The king.”
Before he managed a single word, Nyana gingerly descended the porch steps with all the grace of her mother before her. She looked far too much like Meredith, that each time he saw her, it momentarily stole his breath away.
“I am so happy to see you, Papa.” Nyana embraced him and kissed his cheek before casting a curious glance in Gweneth’s direction. “I apologize for not stopping by sooner. We’ve been preparing for Calle’s visit.”
Behind her, her husband, Joel, grabbed a wooden plank from the side of the house and rested it over the stairs as a ramp to give him access to the house. His eyes smarted at the kind gesture. Were all of the assumptions of their strained relationship in his head? He’d thought she didn’t want to see him. But… He didn’t feel like that was the case right now.
“Would it be better if I came back at another time?” he asked hesitantly, but before she answered, Calle stuck his head out of the house and smiled brightly, his shoulder-length auburn hair shifting with a tip of his head.
“Come on inside! Maisy and Eva just made ginger wafers. We’re about to eat their hard work.”
“Yay!” Maisy exclaimed, jumping off his lap just as Eva exited the house. Together, they ran inside hand in hand, and the others walked ahead, leaving him beside Gweneth.
“I’m so nervous,” she whispered. “That’s King Calle. I’ve only ever seen him from afar.” She smoothed her clothing down. “Please explain this family to me. And fast. I don’t understand who’s related to who.”
As they slowly followed after the others, Emeric whispered, “Nyana and Calle had a dalliance, which produced Maisy. He didn’t know about her because his brother, Liam, faked his death and sent him to live in the Pits as a slave for six years. Liam forced Nyana into a marriage, which produced Eva.” He took a deep breath and spoke quicker as they neared the house. “Calle escaped the Pits, and with the help of the valkyries, they ended Liam’s wicked rule with his death. Calle married Skaja, one of the valkyries. Nyana married Joel, who is Calle’s best friend, which produced baby Dylan.”
His poor daughter. Fate hadn’t been kind to her, but only now in Ebriel with Joel were things finally looking up.
With a good, rolling start, he managed to make it up the ramp and into the house on his own, and to his surprise, he found the valkyrie in question with her white-golden wings tucked behind her as she walked around the main room with baby Dylan in her arms. The woman’s golden strands in her brown hair shimmered beneath the light coming in from the window, making her appear beautiful and harmless. But he’d seen the way she could move faster than a striking snake, an expert with a blade in her hand.
Calle approached immediately and shook his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Emeric. The girls wanted to bring treats to you today, but it seems you beat us to it.” He dropped his hand and shook Gweneth’s next. “And who is your lovely companion?”
The room hushed, and Emeric felt everyone’s stares as if they wanted to know the answer to his question, too.
He replied, “This is Gweneth Caddell. She’s the High Healer who healed my legs.”
Another hush, but this one was so silent that he could hear his own blood pulsing through his ears.
Calle’s eyebrows furrowed as he glanced down at his legs, then his wheelchair, and doubt glazed over his expression. “Nyana told me the bones in your legs were shattered. Irreparable.”
Emeric took in Gweneth’s pinched mouth and the devastation hiding beneath her lidded eyes. Because this was her chance to achieve her dreams. And he was still in the chair. This didn’t look good for her. And she knew it.
The last thing he wanted was to collapse in a room full of people, but picturing Gweneth’s happy, radiant smile gave him the drive he needed. If this was what would make her happy, if becoming a High Healer at the Sun Palace was what she wanted more than anything, then he would do his best to give it to her.
He reached behind him to grab the two walking sticks attached to the chair.
As if realizing what he was about to attempt, Gweneth’s eyes widened, and she lifted a cautioning hand. “Don’t, Emeric. You don’t yet have the strength you need.”
“I have strength enough.”
